How the ?
by amalspach
Summary: A sequel to my first Gravity Falls oneshot, 'What the . . . ' It can be a stand alone, but it's intended as a continuation. A story in which Dipper kinda-sorta proposes to his best friend.


Disclaimer: I don't own anything Gravity Falls related save for the plot.

Also: This is the sequel to my first oneshot, 'What the . . . ?' It makes sense without its original part, but if you wanted to read the first one, that's the name.

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24 year old Dipper Pines wrapped his arms loosely around his long time partner in paranormal crime-stopping, Pacifica Northwest. The blonde turned her head slightly at this, flashing him a quick grin and snuggling a little closer into his chest, due to the cold. Even though they had only been an official couple for a year, they were much closer than a regular boyfriend and girlfriend would be. Although it did help that they had been best friends for forever, it seemed, and shared the same living arrangements and profession. Still, Dipper was pretty sure they had some growing left to do, and he had already prepared the 'next step'.

Although their first RV unit had crashed off a cliff on the way to visit Mabel, their 'headquarters' that had really only been used for extended trips to Gravity Falls was still there, and thus became their house. Dipper and Pacifica had told themselves it was only temporary, but the cottage in the woods on the outskirts of town had been perfect. They were in the center of a place previously crawling with anomalies to fight, close to a decent sized town with tons of connections, and most importantly, they were an arm's length away from Mabel and the Mystery Shack.

So now they lived full time in Gravity; it had all just panned out. Even the social aspect was fine; most of the people knew Dipper and genuinely liked grown-up Pacifica, even if she had been slightly snobby while she was younger. The locals had easily excepted the fact the two were dating, after knowing they had been friends who were living together for so long. Grenda had even gone as far as to say, "About time, you two! I've been so invested in your relationship for forever! Candy and I had made bets!" At this, Dipper had blushed and Pacifica had laughed, but his embarrassment had passed since then.

Anyways, now it was winter, and Pacifica and Dipper waiting on the front porch for Mabel to answer the door. Sure enough, the brunette threw it wide open and enveloped them both in a bone crushing hug.

"You guys! You came to my Christmas party!" she laughed. "Honestly, Bro-Bro, only you would come an hour late. I was beginning to think you wouldn't make it!" Mabel poked her brother in the chest before moving to look at Pacifica. "Of course, I'm sure you would have forced him over here anyways." Pacifica smirked at her boyfriend.

"See? Even your sister agrees that my word is law when it comes to you," she said, shoving him teasingly. He just shoved her back lightly.

"Lies, of course. But let's get inside, shall we?" he asked, taking her coat in the doorway and earning brownie points from Mabel. But just then, as Pacifica was turned around, he slipped his hand inside his pocket. Mabel's eyes widened and she pulled him down the hall.

"You've got a ring?" she whispered excitedly to her befuddled twin.

"What? No!" he replied, wrapping his hand protectively around the object in his clothing. "We've only been together for a year!" His sister glared at him, and he sighed. "So maybe I plan on proposing, okay?"

Mabel shrieked so loudly Pacifica, Candy, and Grenda ran down the side hall.

"Is someone hurt?" Candy questioned. Before she could speak, Dipper covered Mabel's mouth.

"Nope. She just got . . . excited." he said. The 3 girls nodded, and Pacifica swapped places with Mabel, pressed against her boyfriend's side while the brown haired girl ran back to the living room, where everyone was still mingling.

"You wanna go outside?" Pacifica murmured against Dipper's ear. He shook his head yes, grabbing her hand and walking out to the porch. There they pulled out a movie, arguing on which one before Pacifica won (she wanted the Santa Clause and Dipper couldn't resist her puppy-eyes) and popped it into the small DVD player and TV unit. Dipper zoned out quickly.

"Hey," she nudged him. "You're not even paying attention. This is the part where he goes back to the North Pole. Don't you want to watch?" He shrugged.

"I would rather just watch you," he said honestly. "Santa isn't my type."

"Oh?" she teased. "You have a type?"

"Yup, she's funny, sweet, beautiful, and I've know her for a while," he replied, trying to sound nonchalant. "She also my best friend, but I think she's way out of my league."

"Well aren't you the charmer," Pacifica murmured before kissing his cheek. Then they both fell into a comfortable silence for a while.

"You know," said the blonde after a while, still wrapped up in a blanket on the deck with Dipper, head on his shoulder, "I'm not quite sure when I fell in love with you." That got his attention.

"You don't remember?" he asked, heart pounding against his chest. Honestly, the effect she had on him whenever they talked about their relationship was embarrassing. Yet somehow, she always managed to make him feel nervous and dizzy and head-over-heels all at the same time. And looking at her right now, curled up with him while snow fell outside the screened in porch, his only coherent thought was, ' _This is amazing._ She's _amazing. How did I get so lucky_ _?_ '

"Nope," she popped the 'p'. Gently she picked up his hand and began playing with his fingers, a small smile on her face. He couldn't help but smile back, biting the inside of his cheek. "I don't think I can place it because it wasn't just one moment. It was a bunch of them, little by little. I think I was in love with you before I knew I was. Like that time 6 years ago when I got the flu and you helped me get back on my feet. Or when you zipped up my dress for a new year's eve party. And the way you used to stare at me sometimes - it always got me, and I couldn't breath afterwards." She bit her lip. "Does that sound crazy?"

"Not at all," he replied, throat suddenly dry. He gazed down at her and realized he needed the ring in his pocket right then and there, because honestly, she was his it. When they were together like this Dipper could see a future with kids and a new laboratory and pets. He could see them painting walls in a new house and then spilling the paint all over eachother. He could envision Christmas parties at their house with streamers and birthday parties for their children. Dipper could imagine the two of them cooking dinner in the kitchen and getting flour on absolutely everything, with Pacifica dancing around in her slippers like she had been in the RV. He wanted that. He wanted _this_.

"Pacifica, I . . ." He started, clutching the box and fingering it between his pointer and ring fingers. Pacifica looked deep into his eyes, almost starting to catch on as she watched him fidget nervously.

"Mabel's here!" shouted Mabel as she burst onto the porch. The couple jumped back to their feet in shock before relaxing again. It was only a hyperactive twin.

"Are you guys coming in?" she asked curiously, oblivious to the fact she interrupted Dipper's proposal, which she herself had just been fangirling.

"We are now," grumbled Dipper. Mabel smiled, then stole away Pacifica with the excuse 'we need some girl bonding time'. Instead of stowing away to a more private room, though, Mabel took her friend into the dining area.

"Look at them," Mabel started, pointing at Candy and Gideon, who had finally stopped powdering his hair white and had let it go brown. Without the gaudy suits and awful hairstyle, he actually wasn't a bad looking guy. He was telling a joke, apparently, because Candy started laughing and Gideon smiled widely, almost swelling with pride. "He comes in every single day just to talk to her. And she blushes every single time she gets a compliment from him. And they don't think that the fact that they like eachother isn't obvious."

"I see what you mean," replied Pacifica as the two loosely brushed hands. "They're clearly crazy for eachother. You'd think that if you found someone you wanted to spend the rest of your time with, you would just make it official." Just then, Gideon leaned forwards and whispered something to Candy. She turned bright red but nodded slowly, a grin overtaking her face. Suddenly the girl kissed him on the cheek and walked over, flushed, to the duo.

"He asked me out on a date!" she squealed. "I'm so excited! This is great!" Mabel laughed and patted her friend on the back.

"Yeah, and he seems pretty excited, too," motioned Mabel. Gideon was standing in the corner in what can only be described as shock, grinning widely and pulling a hand up to his cheek. "It's not the pairing we expected based on our childhoods, but hey, you two belong together." Pacifica moved to congratulate Candy as well.

"Congrats, Candy, we believed it would happen!" Pacifica said. Then Mabel nudged Pacifica.

"Yeah, we believed in you. And how people who are crazy about eachother shouldn't be hesitant to take the next step." Mabel stared pointedly at the blonde. "Why don't you go find my brother? I'm sure he's already reverted back into a hapless nerd without you. Too much social interaction." She nodded, smiling at the joke, but inside she was thinking about what Mabel was insinuating. Did she mean Pacifica and Dipper should . . . get married? She blushed. She loved him, yeah. A little too much. Every day was just him and her and their friends, and he was with her all the time, and she was totally his, and . . .

Okay. Maybe she might want to get married to him.

Just maybe, she was too far gone to even consider not becoming the significant other to her best friend. It would happen eventually; that she was sure of.

And Pacifica Northwest was certainly ready to be with him forever.

Just as she began to search for him, a warm hand grabbed her and pulled her into Mabel's office. It was Dipper, and he looked determined. But she had something to say first.

"Pacifica, I -"

"I think I want to get married," she blurted out. He blinked.

"What?" he asked. Did she really just say that?

"Well, I know it sounds crazy, but I've been in love with you for the longest time and it just sort of hit me about a minute ago that I want to spend the rest of my life with you and - " She couldn't finish because Dipper was already kissing her, full on the lips. It was long and loving and sweet, and she melted, all thoughts going out the window. Finally, he pulled away, lips tingling and lungs collapsing. Why must she always leave him winded without even trying?

"How the . . ." he panted, trying to get in the words between gasps of air. "How the heck did you know?"

"Know what?" she questioned, confused.

"That I was planning to propose," he remarked, pulling a box out of his pocket and opening it, revealing a diamond ring. "I was trying so hard to keep it under wraps, but Mabel figured it out tonight. I bet you heard her shrieks of joy." He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "So . . . yeah. Now that's out there." Pacifica stared at him for a moment before crashing her lips onto his again, gripping the collar of his shirt.

"Yes," she smiled. "A thousand times yes, you big dork." And with that, Dipper knew; things were just perfect.

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So yeah. That's the end of my follow up oneshot. Sorry if you didn't like it; I wrote this in a half an hour at about 10 at night. But anyways, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.

One more thing; if you read my Zootopia fanfic, know that I will update soon. I am far from abandoning it. Same for the Percabeth oneshots and my followup for the Keepers of Lost Cities story. Those will get write sometime in the near future!


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